HS VOLLEYBALL: MHS looks to redeem itself to start playoffs

Published 3:00 pm, Sunday, November 1, 2015

Midland High's Krista Epley (21) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Lee on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, at Midland High. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Midland High's Krista Epley (21) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Lee on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, at Midland High. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: James Durbin

HS VOLLEYBALL: MHS looks to redeem itself to start playoffs

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Midland High senior middle hitter Krista Epley remembers how close her team was to advancing to the area round of last year’s Class 6A state playoffs.

Epley was a junior on that 2014-15 MHS squad that finished the regular season 30-7, but then blew a 2-0 set lead and fell to Arlington High in the bi-district round.

A year later, Epley and her teammates will look to redeem themselves when they take on North Crowley (30-11), the No. 3 seed out of District 4-6A, to open the playoffs at 6:30 p.m. today in Clyde.

MHS (21-14) has lost in the bi-district round in each of the last four seasons. Epley said that she, along with the team’s seven other seniors, will need to step up in order to lead the Lady Bulldogs over that hurdle which has tripped them up for so long.

“Your team only goes as far as your seniors will take you,” Epley said. “Last year, the seniors, they definitely fought hard, but I think they were kind of ready to go to college already. Maybe they were anxious to go on to college. ”

“For us, we really want to finish strong. This is something we’ve been looking forward to for years. I think we have the will power and the heart to want to go further.”

MHS head coach Amanda Lopez, who is in her fourth season on the Lady Bulldogs’ sideline, has said throughout the year that everything comes down to finishing for her team.

Finishing matches in which they lead has been one of MHS’ focuses this season and now, more than ever, it becomes a top priority in the playoffs. The Lady Bulldogs weren’t able to finish off Arlington High last season in bi-district, but they are hoping they’ve learned their lesson and will complete the job this time against a different opponent.

“You just to have to understand the seriousness of finishing now,” Lopez said. “It’s one of the things we talk about, that we’ve hopefully learned from. We’ve said, ‘We can’t afford to do this, we can’t afford to win two and then drop three.’ It’s just something that we have to be serious about.”

Lopez added that she believes her team still has last season’s heartbreaking loss to Arlington High in the back of its mind as a reminder of what not to do. But for the most part, Lopez said her girls have moved past that match and are prepared for what lies ahead of them in this year’s playoffs.

“I think they’re very excited about Monday,” Lopez said. “You can’t do anything about it (last season’s playoff loss) now. You can only control what you do on Monday. They’re aware of it, but they’re ready for Monday, for sure.”

Epley said that she and her teammates don’t simply want to be the first MHS team since 2010 to advance to the area round. Rather, with last year’s season-ending loss as their motivation, they want to want to push themselves to their limits and go much further than two rounds.

“It’s in the back of our minds of ‘Remember where we are,’” Epley said. “Yes, we can come this far, but we have to push harder. It’s always (about) pushing the limit and pushing harder.”

“We can get this far, we’ve done it, it’s kind of old news. Now, let’s do something great, something better.”

Follow Will on Twitter: @Will_MRT

CLASS 6A BI-DISTRICT

NORTH CROWLEY AT MIDLAND HIGH

When/where: 6:30 p.m. today, Clyde High School, Clyde

Records/seed: North Crowley 30-11, No. 3 seed out of District 4-6A; MHS 21-14, No. 2 seed out of District 3-6A

Notes and quotes: North Crowley went 12-4 in district play, an impressive mark considering the quality of the teams in that district. ... Lopez said that the Lady Panthers will be a real test for her team in the opening round of the playoffs. “They’re athletic, they make plays, they’ve got some height and a lot of athletic ability,” Lopez said. “I think we’ve done what we can on watching some film and some things like that. But then we are really focused on controlling what we want to do, what our game plan is.” ...Lopez said she believes her team has been on a bit of a roll lately. The Lady Bulldogs concluded their regular season by winning three consecutive district matches. “I think in general, we’ve played some really good ball the last few weeks,” Lopez said. “We are where we want to be at this point of the season. I think we just keep going.”